” A Washington Post story purporting to expose the Koch brothers as behind-the-scenes beneficiaries of the Keystone Pipeline has been exposed as an utterly false propaganda operation, hilariously wrong and politically malicious. Even worse, one of the writers behind the story is married to a political operative in the left wing Koch-demonization machine.

The Washington Post was recently purchased by Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who ought to take a hard look at the reporters and editors who collaborated with the left wing smear machine, and while he is at it, should send a note of thanks to John Hinderaker, the blogger at Powerline, who exposed the rot in his new media operation.

Hinderaker’s work is thorough, grounded in fact, and devastating. I urge you to read the whole thing. “

” So the fundamental point of the Post story, which relied uncritically on a goofball far-left report, is dead wrong. Moreover, the Post story itself acknowledges that the tar sands encompass 35 million acres, so Koch’s 1.1 million comprise less than 3% of the total. The whole point of this exercise is to make the Keystone Pipeline all about Koch, and that premise is implausible from the start.

But there is much more. The Post more or less endorses IFG’s theory that the Keystone pipeline somehow would benefit Koch, even though the Post notes that there is zero evidence to that effect:

Koch’s oil production in northern Alberta is “negligible,” according to industry sources and quarterly publications of the provincial government. Moreover, Koch has not reserved any space in the Keystone XL pipeline, a process that usually takes place before a pipeline is built. The pipeline also does not run anywhere near Koch’s refining facilities. And TransCanada, owner of the Keystone routes, says Koch is not expected to be one of the pipeline’s customers.”

” Some winners Barack Obama. Congratulations to him and his team for another brilliant campaign. Nate Silver. I often come away from his columns thinking I’ve learned something. Apparently, there is more for me to learn. The MSM. To advance its pro-Obama agenda, the media kept the lid on Benghazigate when it counted. And one of its stalwarts, Candy Crowley, actively and deceitfully intervened on Obama’s behalf during his debate with Romney on the subject.” Illustration by Eric Allies

“Some scoff at the idea that Mitt Romney might carry Minnesota, but actions speak louder than words. Both Bill Clinton and Paul Ryan campaigned in Minnesota today. This morning, I put out a call to Power Line readers who attended the Ryan event to send me photos and accounts of the rally. The results were overwhelming; I can post only a tiny fraction of the photos we got, but thanks to all who responded; all of you contributed to what follows.”

We reported on this yesterday but are happy to report that it is gaining the attention of the big boys in the media … To wit …

” Facebook took the graphic down twice on the ground that it violated their terms of service, but it is now back up on the SOS site. The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple casts a gimlet eye on Facebook’s actions as well as on its failure to give an honest account of its actions. Wemple also purports to to subject the graphic to a fact check — although he does a good impersonation of the fact-checking breed, did he really have to? — and here he is way over his head. But he brooks none of Facebook’s bs and recognizes there’s a story here.”

” We’ll all have plenty to say tomorrow as we watch the spin/fallout, and my kids are hankering for a re-run of Doctor Who, so for the time being, on the theory that a picture tells a thousand words, here’s how the debate turned out:”

“That is a big topic on which much can be said. The U.S. has dabbled in National Socialism before; elements of Roosevelt’s New Deal emulated Mussolini’s policies, and were implemented by men who made no secret of their admiration for Il Duce. But it has been a long time since anyone has seriously tried to turn the United States in a National Socialist direction.

Which is what Barack Obama seems to be doing. Consider his 983 executive orders, compared with George W. Bush’s 63. Or his extra-constitutional czars; or his illegal cramdown of bondholders in auto bankruptcies; or the explosion in warrantless wiretaps and the even greater explosion in federal regulations; or his “green energy” scams to distort the economy and enrich political cronies; or the recent revelation that the Obama family costs U.S. taxpayers something like twenty times what the British Royal Family costs its subjects. Or, more important, consider Obamacare, a classic top-down National Socialist program.”

“Elizabeth Warren’s Senate campaign is, I think, going rapidly down the drain. On top of her affirmative action fiasco comes another scandal: it appears that she has been practicing law in Massachusetts without a license for some years.

Credit William Jacobson, who, like Warren, is a law professor, for the discovery. Jacobson has been one of the most effective members of the blogosphere over the last couple of years, and this story is a tribute to his dogged investigation. His initial post is here. Jacobson establishes that Warren is not licensed in Massachusetts, and never has been; that she is not currently licensed to practice law anywhere; that Warren repeatedly listed her Cambridge, Massachusetts office as her law office in court filings; and that Warren in fact practiced law out of her Cambridge office. If all of that is true, as seems incontestable, Warren has a lot of explaining to do.”

“Reporters have been trying to help Barack Obama limp across the finish line by creating a daily distraction to divert attention from the Obama administration’s awful record. Whenever possible, they have trumpeted the claim that Mitt Romney has committed one gaffe or another, that he is falling behind in the (bogus) polls, that his campaign is in disarray, and he is basically doomed.”

“The main threat to the administration’s cover-up has never been American reporters, almost all of whom are desperately trying to get Obama re-elected. Rather, the danger is that more of the cell phone pictures and movies that were taken by Libyans of events in Benghazi and, in particular, of Ambassador Stevens, inevitably will surface, and will disrupt the administration’s narrative.”

“Today must represent the low-water mark in the history of American diplomacy. As Scott wrote earlier today, radical Egyptian Muslims stormed the United States Embassy in Cairo, tore down the American flag and replaced it with the flag of al Qaeda. Note the black flag in the photo below:”

To answer John’s question , We would say that yes , we have sunk this low , once …

“Even in the face of a plea from Nancy Pelosi,President Obama insisted on subordinating the
defense needs of the United States to his reelection efforts. This is an under-reported lesson from Glenn Thrush’s new e-book, Obama’s Last Stand . According to Thrush:

“In mid-2012, the House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, requested a sit-down to ask Obama to reconsider the billions of defense cuts that would kick in automatically as part of the 2011 budget deal. The cuts included in ‘the sequester,’ she argued, would hurt Democratic House members with major defense contractors in their
districts. They were asking for an
alternative state of cuts, or any kind of plan that would keep local employers – and, by implication, local contributors – happy.”

Note that Pelosi’s concern was keeping local financial contributors happy. If she was concerned about the impact of sequestration on
our armed services and national security, she did not, according to Thrush’s account, make this
her pitch to President Obama. “

” According to one account, Chick-fil-A’s corporate headquarters told its outlets to expect a 15 to 20 percent increase in business
yesterday, while the actual increase may be closer to something like 200 percent. I suspect that Chick-fil-A’s business is going to enjoy a
permanent step-up in business as a result of the Left’s attack. This makes all the more hilarious
Michael Hiltzik’s Los Angeles Times column the other day (I’m linking it here since nobody reads the LA Times any more, and no wonder) saying that Chick-fil-A’s owner Dan Cathy made a business mistake by speaking his mind on traditional marriage: “

John Hinderaker shares with those of us unfortunate enough to not be on the democrats fundraising lists , just how they are cloaking their polling woes in monetary terms .

Beggary is so unattractive .

” The Democrats couch their anxiety in terms of fundraising, but that isn’t the real problem. The real problem is what they are seeing in the polls: Romney leading in likely voter surveys; Romney more trusted than Obama on the economy and other key issues; enthusiasm higher among
Republicans than Democrats; and so on. The extent of the anxiety the Democrats are feeling comes through loud and clear in their email communications. “

“The Obama campaign is reeling from the fallout over the president’s demand that small business people pay higher taxes because they owe their success to the government. In a few unscripted minutes, Obama, by saying what he really thinks, dealt his own campaign a severe blow.
Today groups of small business owners in 24 cities rallied against Obama: “

The good people at Powerline point us the a study by Peter Schweitzer that parsed the numbers from Obama’s meeting schedule .

Dear Leader certainly is focussed ” laser-like” on the economic problems that we face .

Considering the ” Obama Touch” wherein all that he touches turns to s..t ,perhaps we should be thankful for his inattention .

After all he must be very busy building all those things that we don’t .

What an unappreciative bunch of rubes we are . Such ingrates .

Just think how bad things could be if he gave it his full attention .

” • So far this year, Obama has spent 24 total hours in economic meetings of any kind.

• Throughout his presidency, Obama has spent an average of 138 minutes a week in economic meetings. For comparison, consider that dog owners spend an average of 130 minutes a week walking their dogs .”

” By all accounts, Mitt Romney was sensational today in Pennsylvania. His theme was Barack Obama’s revelatory “you didn’t build that”
speech. Over the lunch hour (here in the Midwest), Twitter was burning up with commentary from those who were watching Romney’s speech live. The commentary was
unanimously euphoric. “

“The National Rifle Association has decided to throw it’s considerable weight behind Mitt Romney in this year’s election. That is no surprise; the gun lobby has always viewed
Barack Obama and his administration with suspicion. But the NRA says is it “all in” to defeat
Obama; we will see what that translates into as the campaign continues. “

” Barack Obama has developed quite a record as a liar. He lied for more than a decade about where he was born. He lied about many aspects of his life in his fictional “memoir.” He lied about his Chicago years and his activities andassociations there. (Has anyone ever asked the question, what did Obama do when he lived in
Chicago, and whom did he know there, since it seems that all of the activities and associations
of which we have a record are now, as Nixon might say, inoperative.) To answer my own question, I think a candidate likely can lie his way into office, but I doubt that in incumbent president can lie his way to re-election. For the first time in his life, apparently, Barack Obama has a record. “

Another example of the establishment Left s embrace of the more radical elements of society … along with the added bonus of showing the growing irrelevance of their toadies such as Move-on …. LOL

” So the demonstration was a washout. But that doesn’t mean that there is nothing to be learned
from it. On the contrary, the event illustrates how closely intertwined the “respectable” Left ( i.e ., the Democratic Party) has become with the disreputable, and often outright criminal, Left.

Who, exactly, organized the Romney/Koch protest? The principal organizers were Andy
Stepanian of Sparrow Media, Aaron Black of Occupy New York and Laura Dawn, Creative Director of MoveOn.org. Let’s focus on
Stepanian, who said on Facebook that The Sparrow Project (i.e., Stepanian) is “coordinating
PR around this Hamptons action.”

So who is he? Stepanian is a self-described terrorist and convicted felon who was sentenced to three years in prison . (It was Chris Christie, by the way, who put him away.) Breitbart.com has written about Stepanian, noting that he continues to threaten violence against political opponents. “

We’ve spoken of Ms Love in the past and are thrilled that she has received the attention of the gentlemen from Powerline . That can’t but help her visibility and fund raising .

If you are looking for a strong , freedom loving candidate to support , please show Mia some of your love .

” Today’s Washington Post contains a front page story about Mia Love , the Republican candidate for Congress in Utah’s Fourth Congressional District. Love, age 36, is the mayor of Saratoga
Springs, a rapidly growing Utah town of about 18,000. She is also Black, Mormon, and quite
conservative. If elected, she will become the first Black female Republican member of.Congress.”

” James Pethokoukis has cast doubt on claims by the Washington Post that, while at Bain Capital, Romney was involved with companies that were sending jobs overseas. As I discussed here, the Post relied on six Bain-related companies: Computer Software Inc. (CSI), Stream Internationl, Modus Media, GT Bicycle, SMTC Corp., and Chippac. Let’s look at each of them.”